Road Jam Ale

Argh, Two Roads. You guys kill me. So much money, so much potential, so much promise, so much capacity, so much history, so much label art, so much marketing skills, so much excitement… so little to show for all of that. Why? I don’t want it to be this way! I want to be friends with you!

(Unfortunately, since I’m very aware of how aware they are of social media mentions and scuttlebutt, I’m pretty sure they don’t want to be my friend. And that sort of bums me out, because I love so much about them – the way they incorporate local history, the way they contract brew some incredibly well-regarded beers, the passion of head brewer Phil Markowski, etc. I’m not a bad person. And I’m sure everyone at Two Roads is perfectly lovely. It’s just… it’s just that the whole reason you exist, Two Roads, is to make great beer. And that’s where we have differing opinions.)

Although, my experience with Road Jam was sort of interesting. Halfway through my first bottle, I hated it. Not drain pour hate, or making me sick hate – just sort of, “why did they make this beer and put it on the shelves before they finished it” hate. But I drank it – fast. And then had another. And I don’t know why.

Two Roads says:

Made with a melange or real black raspberries and red raspberries for a stunning red color, pungent berry aroma and accented with a kiss of lemongrass.

It’s a wheat beer. Therefore it’s not going to have the depth of flavor so many highly regarded beers do in 2014. No hop profile, no malty richness. Just a wheat beer – fine. Wheat beers can be decent, even if they aren’t my favorite style.

I appreciate the “real” berries. The aroma on this effort is fantastic. Like, I wouldn’t mind if my bathroom had a scented candle that smelled like Road Jam.

1. Chill the crap out of it. Like, as cold as you can make a beer without freezing it.
2. Acquire a cold that involves nasal congestion, to mute the sweetness.
3. Wait for the weather to warm above 90 degrees.
4. Invite a bunch of 24-year-olds to drink it with you. They’ll love it, especially if they drink all that flavored vodka crap on the market today.

And enjoy!

The beer is too sweet. It tastes like cheap soda, even if real berries were used. On the plus side, you can drink it like it’s cheap soda – it has that quality to it.

Perhaps a better description is a cheap adjunct like Coors Light with a bunch of sugar and berry flavoring. Now you get my tips for enjoying it. Or… remember the Long Trail Blackberry Wheat that we all loved for maybe one night out in the late 90’s? And then after two you were like, “holy crap, why do I have a headache and why am I seeing a tunnel of light?” Yeah, Road Jam is just like that, but lighter.

Having said all that, this beer could have been a success. Lighten up on the fruit, and make the base wheat ale something richer. Perhaps some bittering hops to mute the berry punch in the face. I don’t know.

I’ve heard that Two Roads has tightened up their flagship IPA, which is great news. I’ll have to give it a revisit and if that’s true, then I will continue holding out hope for the crew in Stratford. After all, New England Brewing’s Sea Hag used to suck. (Yes, it’s true.) And now it’s a staple in my fridge.

Tone down the sugar and beef up the bitter and Road Jam could become a true road jam.

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Comments

I feel the same way you do in the first segment of the review… I really want to like them. The brewery facility is incredible, the people that work there are great, a ton of CT love and history incorporated into their products, but the beer is just … okay at best.

I keep going back to their next beer thinking, “Maybe this one will be that great beer I’m sure they are capable of” and time after time I keep being disappointed. My Two Roads history:
Worker’s Comp – hmmm, I guess it’s okay.
Honeyspot Road – really, this is craft beer? Crap, they are going to give CT brewing a bad rep
Road 2 Ruin – okay, this one’s not bad. Not great, but not bad
No Limits – not bad, decent hefe, but not nearly the best one
Via Cordis – not bad, but not great either. No need to buy again
Conntucky Lightning – I was expecting much more. I feel a bit ashamed people think this is CT beer
Route of All Evil – ugghh, this sucks
Roadsmary’s Baby – ugghh, this sucks too
Holiday Ale – meh

In all fairness, I have had the Belgian IPA, Anniversary and Igor’s Dream at the brewery and they were all decent, but not great IMHO.

The last time I went to the brewery, I brought two craft beer newbies, thinking that it’d be a good gateway. I screwed the pooch on that one. The weren’t impressed with the beers and I left feeling bad their intro to craft and CT beer was not as fantastic as mine was with Relic and NEBCO.

But when staring at Road Jam at the store this week and my friend saying, “it was disgusting”, I thought back to those immortal words of George Bush:
“Fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again.”